called intestinal eversion. At least eight species of sharks have been
observed in captivity everting their intestine through the anus and
then, moments later, pulling it back into place. When Senzo Uchida
dissected several whale sharks caught in Okinawa, he found that they
had a "ring" intestine shaped like the spiral binding on a notebook
and similar to that of a manta ray. Uchida has seen a captive manta
ray evert a small portion of its intestine, but so far this has not been
reported for a whale shark.
T HE WHALE SHARK has a great deal more to fear from
humans than we from it. Fortunately for its survival, the
soft flesh commands a poor price in the market. And a sin
gle whale shark is a lot to handle. The most valuable part
of a shark, the oil-rich liver, is proportionally much smaller in whale
sharks. Even the tiny teeth are worthless as jewelry. Whale sharks are
caught commercially in few places around the world and usually in
seasons when the fishing is not good for tuna, marlin, or other higher
priced fish.
In the Maldives, a spray of coral islands southwest of India, whale
sharks are harpooned from small fishing boats. Local divers even
claim to have roped in a shark by swimming into its mouth and out
through one of its gill openings, then tying off the loop so that the fish
could be towed into port. Of course, the anatomy of the whale shark
makes this impossible -just another of those big-fish stories.
The Taiwanese, who probably kill and eat more whale sharks than
anyone else, call it tofusa, "tofu shark," because its meat is nearly as
soft as bean curd. In Japan the whale shark is commonly calledjinbei
zame. Thejinbei is an old-style summer jacket with a loose weave and
a classic design that resembles a whale shark's pattern: white spots
regularly spaced on a navy blue background with light lines. Some
Japanese fishermen also call the whale shark ebisuzame. Ebisu, their
patron, is one of the seven gods of good fortune in Japanese lore and is
usually depicted as holding on to a fishing rod and a sea bream.
Tokiharu Abe, Japan's most renowned fishery scientist, told me,
"Sighting a whale shark can bring good fortune to a fisherman. It is a
sign that the waters are rich in plankton and are attracting plankton
feeding fish and the even more valuable bigger fish in the food chain,
such as tuna. Japanese fishermen don't like to kill this good-luck shark
that is named for a god."
Ningaloo Reef is Western Australia's biggest marine park, and the
whale sharks and most other fish there are protected. Given the surge
of interest in Ningaloo, we can only hope that whale shark watchers
will not discourage the shy leviathans from congregating in the park.
Now that scientists know where they can study whale sharks,
perhaps we will finally learn about their migration patterns, how
deep they go, where the females give birth, and whether the females
lay their egg cases or hold them in utero until they hatch as free
swimming babies.
Learning more about this gentlest and greatest of fish should lead us
to a better appreciation of all sharks-even those with the worst repu
tation. Already, as shark populations dwindle around the world from
overfishing for their fins, fear and vilification are giving way to a more
farsighted, active concern.
O
NationalGeographicEXPLORER will air"The Shark Barrier"on Sunday,
December27, at 9 p.m. ET on TBS SuperStation.
Illuminated by the blue
cast of midday sunlight, a
whale shark descends into
the depths. After feasting
for several days, one by
one the enigmatic beasts
leave the plankton-green
shallows for the clear blue
currents of the Indian
Ocean-highways per
haps to otherfeeding
grounds. How deep they
go, where they go, how
many there are: All are
mysteries surrounding the
largest of all fish.
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